Anonymous Money on the Left

Middle Eastern potentates have been acknowledging their nervousness over the hydrocarbon revolution that has seen American domestic oil production increase by 2 million barrels a day over the last two years, with much more to come as cutting edge American technology spreads around the world.  OPEC’s days as the drivers of the global oil market may be in eclipse, especially if global demand for oil peaks, as has been forecast recently.

So if you’re a Middle Eastern country and you want to do something to slow this up, one thing you might do is try to funnel money to environmental organizations that want to stop fracking and keep land closed to new hydrocarbon production.  We already saw Chesapeake Energy give over $25 million to the Sierra Club to fight against coal so as to increase demand for its natural gas.

Is there any evidence that Middle Eastern nations are funneling money to enviros?  Not that I know of.  But then there’s this story from the Free Beacon:

Liberal Foundation Distributed Money from Bermuda to Liberal Nonprofits

A major left-wing foundation has received tens of millions of dollars from a shadowy Bermudan company with ties to wealthy American hedge fund managers and distributed those funds to prominent liberal nonprofit groups.

A sizable portion of the Sea Change Foundation’s revenue since 2011 has come from a single company, incorporated in Bermuda, called Klein Ltd. The company’s only officers are employees of a Bermuda law firm, and neither provided information on what Klein actually does.

Documents filed with the Bermudan government suggest that the company exists only on paper.

The money Klein has donated to Sea Change has been passed on to some of the largest liberal and environmentalist groups in the United States, including the Sierra Club, the League of Conservation Voters, and the Center for American Progress (CAP).

CAP, which attacked the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in 2010 for supposedly using foreign money for political purposes, has also received funds from the Bermuda-based Atlantic Philanthropies, as has its 501(c)(4) arm, the Center for American Progress Action Fund.

Few things agitate the professional left these days more than anonymous contributions to conservative advocacy groups.  That’s why the push for “disclosure” of donors to 501 (c) 4 groups, though we know from past experience (like Target in Minnesota) that the left will use the disclosed information to harass and intimidate donors.  Well two can play at that game.  How about disclosing who’s behind this activity?  Is it foreign interests?  Expect crickets.

Notice: All comments are subject to moderation. Our comments are intended to be a forum for civil discourse bearing on the subject under discussion. Commenters who stray beyond the bounds of civility or employ what we deem gratuitous vulgarity in a comment — including, but not limited to, “s***,” “f***,” “a*******,” or one of their many variants — will be banned without further notice in the sole discretion of the site moderator.

Responses